Night Owls and Early Birds
by Tanista2
Summary: Daniel Jackson's not a morning person. Fortunately he's found someone who shares the same sentiment. (Crossover of sorts with my classic MacGyver AU, Domestic Adventures, Ad Astra 'verse).


_Author's Note: Please indulge this little crossover what-if (and my first Stargate fic ever), p_ _laying off the idea of MacGyver and Jack O'Neill being identical twin brothers (not clones). Becky Grahme is an OC in my classic MacGyver AU, Domestic Adventures (please see my profile for details)._

 _Could be a plot bunny for a series, could be merely a little tidbit just for fun, I'm not sure yet which. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy. Feedback is welcome._

 _The incident Mac refers to is from my Domestic Adventures story Caffeine Fiend, or Tea and No Sympathy._

* * *

Daniel Jackson can't stop yawning.

He's no stranger to staying up well past midnight, losing himself in research. But even so it's been a long time since he spent the wee hours deep in discussion with someone who can follow his mind's every tangent, even coming up with a few intuitive leaps of her own. And wake at dawn without paying for it.

The young woman sitting beside him also yawns, slumping over her breakfast.

Becky Grahme. Petite and slight, blue eyes behind glasses, features a softer version of her uncles'. Possessing the same razor-sharp wit (tempered by shyness), boundless curiosity and innate kindness, though not the tendency to seek adventure. A quiet, unassuming, yet brilliant linguist and anthropologist, working at the Phoenix Foundation.

Her shock and pleasure of recognition mirrored his own the moment Jack introduced her along with his identical twin brother ("Name's MacGyver." "First name or last?" "Yep." Jack just shrugged).

He'd met Becky earlier, at a linguistics conference in Seattle several years back. She'd attended one of his lectures and during the Q & A stood up for him when some blowhard began to verbally attack his theories. Then later at a cocktail party (which neither of them would've attended but for the peer pressure) he'd defended her in turn from that same jerk's unwelcome advances.

After that they automatically banded together during the rest of the conference, fellow introverts seeking mutual protection against the crowd. There was a little age difference- she a grad student working on a dual Master's and he wrapping up one of his post-doctorate studies, but they had enough in common aside from academics (both being orphans, for one) to form a connection.

At the end they promised to keep in touch; he'd even suggested flying to Los Angeles for a visit after delivering a paper at a symposium in Denver.

But then there was O'Neill and the Stargate.

And Abdyos. And Sha're.

And everything that followed after that.

Now Daniel finds himself once again in her company, though under unusual circumstances. Rescued with MacGyver from the wreckage of a world falling apart (and happening more quickly than anyone ever imagined, if the seismographs monitoring Yellowstone are correct). Jack personally brought them into the fold, in the midst of SGC relocating themselves and other survivors to PX35-172, aka New Earth.

They've both settled in well, all things considered. Mac's survival skills and unusual talent for making use of things comes in handy in planning the settlement and allocating resources. Becky's become an all-purpose assistant around the base, which is why Jack had suggested with a straight face she might be able to keep him "on task" while overseeing the packing and removal of Ancient artifacts and reference materials to the new colony.

Jack's all but threatened to shoot anyone at SGC point blank who might have unwelcome designs on her. Her other uncle refuses to carry a gun, but Daniel's sure he'd come up with some clever ways of his own to exact revenge if so inclined. They are very protective of their beloved niece.

Not that he's intimidated by the notion. He and Becky are just friends, anyway. Nothing more. Really.

(Though he doesn't deny she's cute, either.)

"Good morning, campers!" God, that voice is loud. Unreasonably so for such an early hour.

"Morning, Jack," he mumbles. Becky just groans.

O'Neill sets his tray across from theirs, smirking. "You look wasted, Danny-boy. Rough night?"

"No, just a long one. Lots of things to catalog." Why can't he stop yawning already?

"I just bet." Jack beams at Becky. "Morning, sleepyhead."

"Mmm," she grumbles.

MacGyver laughs softly as he joins them. "Our niece," he informs his brother, "is not a morning person like we are, remember? Can't even form complete sentences until after she has her caffeine."

Jack chuckles. "Just like you before your coffee, Daniel. Right down to the glasses and messy bed-head. Real cute look on you guys, by the way."

"Not funny," Becky mutters.

He feigns shock. "The mummy speaks!"

"Watch it, Jack," Mac warns. "You don't want to annoy Becky any further, believe me."

"Come again?"

"She can hit pretty hard when she's not awake enough to pull her punches. Remind me to tell you about the time she took out a couple of early-morning burglars all by herself. Short on both sleep and caffeine, yet."

"You're kidding, right? Our sweet, mild-mannered princess? Not possible." Jack's hand sneaks over to her tray as he speaks, lifting a piece of bacon.

Quicker than Daniel can give warning Becky reaches out, deftly smacking it away.

"Ow!"

Mac chuckles into his orange juice. "Warned ya."

Jack shakes his hand ruefully. "You know, Beck, that's not a nice thing to do to your favorite uncle."

"Second favorite."

" _Second_ favorite? Is that all I am to you? I'm crushed."

"Hey, Uncle Mac here has to be my first favorite, since he originally took me in and all. But rest assured I adore you just as much as I do him."

"Well, I should hope so." Jack's eyes are twinkling now; he's already forgiven her.

"This happen a lot at breakfast?" Daniel asks MacGyver.

He grins, running a hand through his shaggy blond hair (such a contrast from his twin's neat military cut sprinkled with gray). "Just whenever Jack visited. Certainly got Becky fully awake in the mornings, though."

(Daniel had known Jack for a while now, but never realized until recently he had other family, or where he went while on leave. But then, Jack tends to keep a lot of things close to the vest when it suits him.)

"Hi! Mind if we join you?" Carter and Teal'c approach, loaded trays in hand.

Mac's grin goes wider. "Not at all, Major. Please do."

"Call me Sam, please." She smiles winningly at him. "I was hoping to get your opinion on something, before the briefing..." Immediately they launch into a technical discussion that's already well beyond Daniel's knowledge of electronics.

Teal'c sets himself down at the other end of the table. "O'Neill. Becky Grahme. Good morning."

"Morning, T."

Becky greets the Jaffa shyly. (She's still stunned at the thought of meeting someone from another planet. Daniel finds it amusing.)

Eventually the shared meal winds down, and the group heads off on their respective duties before the briefing at 0930, though not without Becky receiving kisses and hugs from both her uncles, to everyone else's amusement. ("Don't work her too hard, Danny," Jack says with a wink. Her cheeks flush bright red.)

"He always does like to get in the last word," she grumbles as they head through the corridors to his office.

"But you're not going to let him get away with it, are you?"

She grins. "Nope. I can hold my own with Uncle Jack any day of the week, so long as I'm fully awake. Just wait until lunchtime."

Daniel finds himself grinning in return. He's actually looking forward to watching a fellow academic and night-owl tangle with the Colonel of Sarcasm and get away with it.

Makes facing the impending end of the world more bearable, somehow.


End file.
